Hi. Am new here. I'm a retired technician. Just starting with Arduino systems. Instead of the more basic Arduino Uno, I got the kit with the Mega-2560, as it has many more I/O on board. It all came with a CD full of relevant files/instructions for the Mega-2560, and all is working fine... Was just wondering if that was a good choice, as I'm since reading online that this board is 'discontinued' ??? Glenn.
That seems to be a persistent rumor, but I don't think it it true. Possibly arose because one particular vendor decided to no longer stock it, or perhaps other reasons, but it is not discontinued and Arduino continue to support it. I think you have no worries on that front.
Otherwise, the Mega is a fine choice.
You might go with a simpler board and chip and save the 2560 for later.
The Uno R3 with the MCU in a socket allows you to replace the chip for instance (chip must be "bootloaded" which can be DIY) and it makes a good dev platform to do things like program MCU chips with. The MCU in the socket has the same core that the 2560 has and fewer features to confuse and sidetrack basic lessons.
But you do what you want. You know how easy troubleshooting is so a load of extras won't be any problem, right?
What features of the Mega do you find confusing?
When learning a new system, every extra is something to debug. Did you read what I posted before forming an opinion or did your knee jerk at the first thing you don't completely agree with?
It's about simple. I hope that is not confusing. I am giving advice to someone new to this, not having a moment.
So apart from the extra pins, and extra memory, what do you think might be confusing for beginners? Genuinely asking, I'm not aware of any beginners getting confused about features of the Mega, but I do not see all posts.
What part of simple evades you?
Extra pins, extra memory, extra serial, extra bus expansion (I have a banked external RAM card and TFT screen for mine) all looking to be used like cash burning a hole in my pocket. SCREW the mundane stuff, look what this can do! And if I burn a pin, there's plenty of others left!
OTOH for something to LEARN THE BASICS WITH there is a simpler board that you can burn a pin on and FIX. It makes a nice little tool to do many things with without tying up something bigger and more expensive.
It's like that first bike or car you don't have to care as much about and is harder to get in trouble with, not that ANYONE HAS TO.
I'm not playing converse and obverse with you. I gave advice including save the 2560 for later. Sheesh!
Your advice appear to be based on your own experience, rather than what is best for a beginner.
The Mega is perfectly fine for a beginner, there is no need to buy something else.
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in your opinion
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go find a mirror
OK guys... Thanks to you both !!... As the 2560 kit comes with a CD, with all the relevant 2560 info & PDF's & data, I don't have a problem following all that.
I know there are various tech differences too, but was only concerned about the "Discontinued" status. You've alleviated my concerns there. 
The boards fill niches at low cost and low power.
The 2560 with 4 USARTs and more RAM is well suited as a central node, each USART is capable of working as a full speed master mode SPI port; Howto and code about halfway down this tutorial.
It is the only Arduino I know of that lets you connect external RAM addressed directly like internal RAM. Rugged Circuits makes the QuadRAM card for that, gives 8 banks of heap while the internal RAM acts as dedicated stack space.
The newer 32-bit chip Arduinos eclipse the 2560 as the once-King board but they have weaker, dainty pins. 
The main benefit i see to the 2560 is that you can use a TFT display with it. There are the mcufriend displays that plug directly onto an Uno but they pretty much use all the pins. Id you plug an mcufriend into a Mega2560 the you still have a lot of I/O remaining for use.
Thanks for the continuing replies!!... Actually, one reason I wanted the 2560, with extra I/O, was to simulate the functioning of a 'PLC' !!, but need a graphical Front-End on my Laptop, to view/edit it working on-screen.
There is a slight problem: none of the XCK pins can be found on the headers on the Mega boards. 
True. And I am nowhere near good enough to tap chip pins 4, 14, 48 and 65.
fine. The MEGA has plenty of I/Os. If you need a GUI on the Laptop consider to add an Ethernet shield and dig into setting up a web interface on the MEGA.
You might find this interesting.....
Programming Introduction with Arduino PLC IDE
There are 5 languages available:
- Structured Text (ST)
- Instruction List (IL)
- Ladder Diagram (LD)
- Sequential Function Chart (SFC)
- Function Block Diagram (FBD)
Thanks mate...
You may be interested in the below board programming it using OpenPLC
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